Best Practice

Relationships and health education

PSHE Curriculum
The consultation over proposed guidance for statutory relationships education and health education has closed. John Rees looks at how schools might begin preparing for these vital new subjects

Links between wellbeing and attainment have long been recognised (Public Health England, 2014) and the Department for Education (DfE) has finally published draft guidance to introduce new statutory subjects: relationships education for primary schools and relationships and sex education (RSE) for secondary schools.

There will also be a new subject of health education for pupils in key stages 1 to 4 in all state-funded schools. The guidance will replace the current outdated SRE guidance.

The proposed new guidance describes what schools should do and sets out the legal expectations with which schools must comply (DfE emphasis) as from September 2020. However, the guidance has a sense of moral purpose, too – “to embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life, pupils need knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy”.

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